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NC Family Sues For $1 Million After Car Accident Victim Mistaken For Dead

Posted on Dec 03, 2009

In a horrific news story out of Raleigh, North Carolina, a family is fighting for compensation against a Franklin County and paramedic after family member Larry Green was mistaken for dead by emergency responders at a car accident and left in a body bag in a freezer. The family is seeking $1 million to pay for medical car.

In 2005, then-29-year-old Green was attempting to cross Highway 401 at night when he was involved in a serious pedestrian accident. He was struck by a vehicle and found in the roadway by paramedic. One paramedic could not find a pulse and he was declared dead at the scene of the accident. No one tried to resuscitate him.

Later, County Medical Examiner, 72-year-old J.B. Perdue examined Green’s car accident injuries but ignored several signs that Green was still breathing and alive, including a moving chest and an eye twitch. Only after the man had been in a refrigerator for an hour did a North Carolina Highway Patrolman see another eye twitch.

Though Green is alive, he requires 24-hour care, eats through a tube, and is limited to a nursing home bed. His family would like money for his care as well as for therapy to help him learn to talk and eat on his own.

While the family has reached a settlement with Franklin County, they are still in a legal battle with the paramedics involved. Purdue resigned from his job in 2008.